


Quédate

by Achuchando



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Pre-Canon, Sad, tags are hard to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 07:16:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14711562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Achuchando/pseuds/Achuchando
Summary: When Raphael left, Rosa wanted to say goodbye.





	Quédate

**Author's Note:**

> This may not be entirely canon compliant, but it should fit nicely within it (I have not kept myself entirely up to date with the show... oops?). Any comments and suggestions are completely welcome.

Raphael turned the corner, his hands buried deep in his pockets and his shoulders hunched uncomfortably.

He was not sure if he was going to go back to Magnus’s apartment, or finally go to the Hotel Dumort, but Raphael knew he just wanted to leave. He had said his goodbyes to his mother, his brothers, his sister. He did not want to go back to their little house again, to face his family with the knowledge that someday he would have to say goodbye all over again. Forever.

Raphael took his hands out of their pockets, relaxed his shoulders, and stood straight. He walked through the darkness with a head held high, an unbent spine, and a stoic expression. He thought nothing of where he was coming from, only of where he was going to go.

“Rapha!” a little voice cried, “Rapha!”

The vampire only continued walking. He would not turn back, not anymore. He could not face his family, could not smile for them anymore. Every time he looked at his family, all Raphael saw were things that smelled of delicious blood, with expiration dates stamped onto their souls, and quiet ticking clocks made of heartbeats.

The urgent patter of a little girl’s feet echoed in Raphael’s ears, the only sound on the street aside from his own rigid pace.

“Rapha!”

The repeating voice came closer, its vowels ringing distinctly of Mexican Spanish and of a little girl’s desperation to say goodbye.

Raphael kept walking, his pace steady, his head held high, and his jaw locked so tightly it almost trembled.

His sister’s ragged breath became hauntingly audible, and the vampire only stopped walking away when she tugged on his sleeve.

_ “Por favor, por favor, vuelve,” _ Rosa begged. Please, please, come back.

Raphael turned, lowering himself onto his knees until he faced his sister. She fell forward, and Raphael’s arms reflexively embraced her. She smelled faintly of tamales, and Raphael could not help but notice that she was shaking from the cold. He rubbed small circles in her back, like he would when she was scared of their father in Zacatecas.

“I can’t, Rosa. I need to go.  _ Mamá _ will look after you, I promise.”

Raphael, surprised by how gentle and steady his voice had been, pulled his sister closer to himself. He allowed himself to breathe, focusing on each unnecessary breath as Rosa begged for him to come back.

She persisted, her tiny arms wrapped around her older brother’s neck. Rosa buried her head against him, murmuring tiny pleas into his collarbone.

_ “Estás equivocado, Rapha, puedes quedarse, con nosotros. No necesitas irse,” _ she continued. You’re wrong, Rapha, you can stay, with us. You don’t need to go.

“Rosa, let me go. I can walk you back home, but you cannot come running after me like this. It is dangerous at night.”

_ “Pero si vuelvo a la casa, vas a desaparecer. Para siempre.” _ If I go home, you will disappear. Forever.

Raphael slowly began to stand, hooking his arm underneath Rosa’s legs and hoisting her up as well. With his other arm, he continued to hold her close, slowly walking back home. Rosa fell silent, giving up and deciding to just hold on to her brother. She knew Raphael would leave, and that finally broke Raphael’s heart.

_ “Te amo, Rosa, te amo. Recuerda eso.” _

I love you, Rosa, I love you. Remember that.


End file.
